The newest Dungeons and Dragons 5.0 adventure hardcover, Princes of the Apocalypse, is out today. This volume includes a full adventure for characters levels one to fifteen as well as new spells and an entirely new, playable race, the element-touched genasi.

Players looking for a new two player experience (which is not always the easiest endeavor), should check out Steam Torpedo First Contact. Following the first world war, players take control of submarines and battle with each other for oceanic dominance. First, you will construct a submarine from select parts, resulting in hundreds of possibilities. Second, you pit these submarines against each other in a battle of underwater tactics.

In Realm of Heroes, players will balance a number of resources, including building castles and recruiting heroes that will become your army. The trick is that the game board will alter as the game progresses, making it incredibly difficult to consistently field your army and plan your strategy.

Dragons of Tarkir, the third set in the Khans of Tarkir block and the final set of Magic before the company switches to the new two set release schedule, is out this weekend. As is normal, this release means that not only are booster packs on sale, but also Fat Packs, Event Decks, Intro Decks, and the standard assortment of sleeves, deck boxes, and playmats.

Anyone who enjoys resource management games like Belfort, Clockwork Kingdom is a steampunk version of the same. After the king of the Clockwork Kingdom has passed away, it’s a free for all for the throne and you will be playing one of the nominees! In order to claim victory, you will need to make strategic decisions to claim workers, resources, build mechanisms, and encounter other opponents on the battlefield.

A parallel game to the highly popular Star Wars X-Wing miniature game, Star Wars Armada, is finally on shelves. This hotly anticipated release is a to scale ship-to-ship battle game where players control capital class ships, like the Star Destroyer and the Corellian Corvette, as well as lower class ships, like Tie Fighters and X-Wings. All the ships move on a template system, similar to but unique enough from X-Wing.

Days of Wonder has released two more expansions for the popular Risk-like board game, including Small World: Royal Bonus and Leaders of Small World. The former expansion features three new races and powers, including the Behemoth race which are giant Hippos in ties and dresses. And, yes, they are as awesome as they sound. The Leaders of Small World expansion adds an entirely new ability to the game where players can opt into a leader token whenever they purchase their race/power combo.

Get ready to have that theme song stuck in your head, because IDW Games released The X-Files: Board Game this weekend. Playing similarly to Letters from White Chapel and Last Night on Earth, two to four players control agents solving paranormal cases across America, while another player controls the Cigarette Smoking Man, who throws obstacles in the path of the agents at every turn. With a possible reboot of the cult favorite series around the corner, now’s the time to sample this new board game.

Like clockwork, the newest Magic the Gathering set, the first for 2015, is out this weekend. The second set in the Khans of Tarkir block, Fate Reforged also features tri-color clans as a foundation mechanic for the set. As usual, this release weekend sees the arrival of not only boxes of Fate Reforged boosters, but the standard Fat Pack and Intro Deck materials, as well. A newer addition to the launch weekend releases is the Clash Pack, a halfway point between the Event Decks and the Duel Decks.

Coup, The Resistance, and Avalon have skyrocketed in popularity recently, so every gaming company wants to get in on the deception card game, uh, game. Victory Point Games is the first company throwing their hat in the ring with Trieste. Trieste is a three player deception card game, where players select one of three roles (Thief, Merchant, or City Watch) to command. Each role comes with their own deck of cards and specialty win conditions, as well. All turns are played simultaneously, with each player not knowing what their opponents will play until it is played.

IDW is diving head first into their gaming division with not only the X-Files game mentioned earlier, but also the new Diamonsters card game. A good family game, Diamonsters is a set collection game where players start out with the exact same hand, but attempt to collect sets of different cards. The choices are either three monsters of one kind or five diamonds, but beware some of the monsters will devour your diamonds. As well, the game is designed and illustrated by the artists behind Machi Koro.

And speaking of Machi Koro and IDW. . .

Development continues in the quirky, colorful town of Machi Koro with the Harbor expansion. The first expansion for Machi Koro, Harbor adds thirteen new cards, including seaports and airports. As well, the win condition for the game is no longer four, but six landmarks. Grab a copy and get up to five players building up the town.

Asmodee released another 7 Wonders expansion this weekend and this one requires some heavy labor. 7 Wonders: Babel contains two separate gaming expansions that can be added singularly are together. First, is the tower component, which adds an extra beginning drafting phase. During this phase, players draft tower tiles, each of which features a special law that affects all players. Second, are a set of law cards that tax players for using certain colored cards.

It wandered in out of the cold, a cigarette hanging from its box lid, a fedora covering its corner. Ace Detective was its name. A storytelling card game in the vein of Once Upon a Time, Ace Detective has players utilizing plot cards to tell a group narrative. Each turn players lay down story cards in an attempt to keep the yarn flowing, but must battle against each other to take control of the plot’s direction. And, if you can’t tell from the title, Ace Detective is all noir, all the time.

Another in Settlers of Catan line of standalone spin-offs, Catan: Ancient Egypt pairs the same great Catan mechanics with an Egyptian setting. Oxcarts are used to move resources like papyrus, stone, and cattle from town to town. This standalone edition also features two alternate play scenarios, increasing the replay value of the game and keeping players interested.

As Sauron’s forces draw ever closer, the fellowship must venture into the mines of Celebrimbor to discover the only three rings of power untouched by the dark lord. This is the story for Lord of the Rings Celebrimbor’s Secret, the newest Adventure Pack for the LotR LCG. Adding sixty new cards to the game, Celebrimbor’s Secret includes Galadriel as a playable hero character.

With the holidays just around the corner, Magic the Gathering has, for the second year in a row, released a special gift box to ease your shopping distress. The Khans of Tarkir Holiday Gift Box is an inexpensive 2000 count card box that also happens to contain four Khans booster packs, special card dividers, stickers to personalize the dividers, land, and a special promo card. Check your favorite Magic player off your “To Buy” list.

Nearing closer to the newest My Little Pony booster pack set, Enterplay has released their equivalent of an MtG Fat Pack. The MLP Celestial Solstice box contains materials for two players, including a twenty-four card pack of rare, foil promos, three Premiere Edition boosters, three Canterlot Nights boosters, and a durable card box.

The popular Pandemic strain of virus fighting cooperative games has mutated this weekend. Pandemic: The Cure is a dice variation of the original game, converting all the regular mechanics to dice rolls. Each player still takes on a different role, now represented by a unique set of dice. The outbreak is also represented by dice, which are rolled, then placed on the gaming board. A quicker variation of the original, Pandemic: The Cure can be set-up and played in around thirty minutes.

With Godzilla and Pacific Rim recently stomping all over movie theaters, Kaiju in demand. Rarrr!!! is a drafting card game that answers that demand, giving players the chance to control powerful, monstrous creatures. Broken into two drafting rounds and a bidding round, players first build and power their monster, then use the power cards they’ve attained to outbid others in an effort to destroy the most buildings.

The first release in a series of board games given the seal of approval by Dice Tower, Sheriff of Nottingham puts players into the roles of Nottingham’s merchants and the greedy Sheriff, himself. Each turn players attempt to enter the city with various goods and products for sale. However, they may choose to mix legal and illegal products together in their carts. But, beware, the Sheriff will be allowed to pick through each merchant’s stash and weed out items or punish players.

Both a drafting and Push-Your-Luck game, Till Dawn is a vampire game with style. Contained within a creatively designed coffin-shaped box, Till Dawn has players taking over the role of a horde of competitive vampires. Over the course of three rounds, players pass around a deck of cards, drawing one, then following its command. The goal is to collect the most blood tokens and return to your coffin before the sun rises, but vampire hunters and other obstacles can make that a difficult possibility.

A short and sweet expansion, Titanium Wars: Confrontation adds some appealing extras to the base game. Included within this expansion are new arsenal cards, planets, leaders, and events, as well as cards that replace previous cards. In addition, Confrontation includes a Versus Mode variation that can be played individually or in teams.

Stefan Feld, game designer for Bora Bora and Bruges, releases a new game this weekend entitled Trajan. Players attempt to build-up their own corner of Rome through the use of special ability tiles. Tiles are distributed around the table through a special mechanic where they are placed in bowls, then used by each player strategically.

The first expansion for Robinson Crusoe, Voyage of the Beagle is here!

Containing a set of original scenarios that can be paired with the base game to extend its playability, each of these scenarios link together, serializing events so that what occurred during the last play session remains into the next session.

Hottly anticipated, Richard Garfield’s sequel to King of Tokyo is finally here! King of New York is bigger and more intense than its predecessor, just like a game set in America should be! Like King of Tokyo, players take control of monsters, attempting to gain the most victory points by beating the crap out of each other. However, the game board for King of New York is double the size, providing multiple zones for players to fight from. As well, the game adds a “fame” component that allows one player to take the spotlight and gain special abilities.

The Pathfinder Adventure Card Game gets organized this weekend, thanks to a new playmat.

Featuring a layout that helps to show new and old players how to arrange the various important cards piles. As well as being a guide for placement, the mat also helps organize the game (heading off clutter) and keep the cards from shifting about the table. The layout is made to cover up to six players.

With the superheroes getting all the love in games like Sentinels of the Multiverse, Legendary, and Heroes Wanted, it’s time for the bad guys to have their day! Villainy puts players into the role of a supervillain attempting to destroy the hero of the metropolis they call home. In order to do this players will need to complete three distinct secret plans, made possible by hiring henchmen. Each game plays different, as the objectives and story alters.

Many readers out there will know that this weekend was the Magic the Gathering prerelease event for Khans of Tarkir, the start of the newest card block. Anyone who knows this will also likely know that means the sleeves, binders, and card boxes for the set are also out. Boosters, fat pack, and intro decks will go on sale next Friday.

Over the hill and through the woods to Talisman‘s expansion we go.

Another large sized expansion for the Talisman 4th Edition board game, The Woodland provides an entire new board to place adjacent to the main board, five new characters, and an added fate mechanic that gives you the option of bettering your chances or lessening those of an opponent.

The sequel to the recently released Warhammer 40KRed Waaagh! hardcover, The Hour of the Wolf, is out this weekend. Contained within its glossy, hardcover-bound pages are details on various skirmishes between the Orc and Space Wolf factions, along with formation templates and more.

The major Warhammer release this weekend, however, is a blast from the past.

Once again, Games Workshop has re-released the classic 40K universe board game, Space Hulk. If you remember the last time this game was released, you’ll also remember the incredibly short amount of time it stayed on shelves and the astronomic price hikes that occurred after it vanished. This new version comes complete with the same miniatures and accessories as the last, but with one important alteration. The 2014 version includes an entirely new set of tiles, allowing players who own the previous version to combine them and create one, over-sized game board.

Days of Wonder, publisher of Ticket to Ride, Smallworld, and Cargo Noir, has released a new board game designed by Bruno Cathala (Shadows Over Camelot). Five Tribes is a meeple placement game, but in reverse. The game begins with a selection of meeple figures, each from one of the five titular tribes, arranged across the board and it is the players’ challenge to rearrange them. How they are moved and where they are moved is the strategic challenge of Five Tribes, with the best player gaining the most points from their movements.

The third Data Pack in the Lunar Cycle of the Android Netrunner LCG has been downloaded to the Pulp Fiction shelves this weekend. First Contact’s sixty card expansion intensifies the conflict between the runners and the corps on a number of fronts. A new meat space is introduced along with new regions, Anarch identities, traps, resources, and mythic ice.

Finally, the force is strong with you.

Fantasy Flight expands its roleplaying galaxy far, far away with the Force and Destiny Beta softcover, a third system to add to the Edge of the Empire and Age of Rebellion systems. This long awaited edition incorporates force based abilities into the universe, providing information on character creation and a fully playable adventure. And because this system is set in the same universe as the two previous systems, they are all fully compatible.

Long out-of-print and going for insane money online, Chinatown has been revived by Z-Man Games. A truly antagonistic experience, Chinatown is based around bidding, bartering, and negotiating with your opponents. Players attempt to lay business tiles onto the game board, hoping to group as many like tiles together as the can for greater payouts. But players can also attempt to convince others to sell or trade for tile and spaces, requiring a sharp skill for salesmanship and strategic dealing.

Eagerly awaited, the second major core hardcover for Dungeons and Dragons 5.0 is out this week!

The Monster Manual for D&D Next follows hot on the heels of the Player’s Handbook, containing beasties and creatures from the long history of the famous fantasy roleplaying game, all illustrated with beautiful new artwork and provided with easy-to-use rules and statistics. An essential volume for any Dungeon Master.

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